


Destiny leads us to tomorrow

by Evilblue



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Captivity, Captured, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/F, F/M, Good Morgana (Merlin), Hurt Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Hurt Merlin (Merlin), Hurt/Comfort, Kilgharrah - Freeform, M/M, Magic Revealed, Merlin's Magic Revealed (Merlin), Multi, Powerful Merlin (Merlin), Whump, he is still held captive tho, kilgharrah has magical friends, morgana doesn't know abt her magic yet, uther is still alive
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-16
Updated: 2019-07-16
Packaged: 2020-06-29 17:53:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19835479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evilblue/pseuds/Evilblue
Summary: A group of magical creatures decide to take over Camelot. They don't mean any harm really.they just throw anyone royal in the dungeons, and begin teaching magic to the staff. they haven't killed anyone so far. It can't be that bad.Except for the fact that they have taken a great liking to Merlin, and by ways of affection they teach him higher magic.They call themselves Destiny's followers. And see it as their duty to educate Emrys in the ways of Magic and the old relegion.





	Destiny leads us to tomorrow

The sun hung low and the evening would fast approach. The shadows of the trees grew long over the grounds. Branches reached out like the beggars would stretch their hands. They trembled. Dark clouds hung low in the sky, obscuring the view to any who may want to look up and see her.  
Mist hung low to the ground, unnatural as the mist was blue, as the sky would be if we could see her.  
A horse stepped out of the obscuring shadows. And left the forest behind. It set a few slow but not uncertain steps. It trampled the mist with it’s hooves. And after a moment of peace it continued its journey.  
A cold wind blew over the fields surrounding Camelot. It drove the clouds to the city. And carried the sound of low hissing with them.  
More horses came out of the woods. And they made way to Camelot. 

A young guard Vinner saw them first. He saw vague shapes moving toward the city. They came from far but with an speed close to terrifying.. They were most likely on horseback he concluded. Vinner ran to report to his superior. Who gave the order to sound the warning bells. Henry, In all his years he had surely some experience, and when he looked at the approaching riders two things shook him as strange. One they wore no banners, no giveaways to where their loyalties would lie. And two, they rode dangerously close to each other. No man in their right mind would ride closer than a legs length to their brother in arms, it came with the danger of dragging each other down in battle, and it would hinder movement.  
Despite these oddities the man named Henry wasted no time sounding warning, because with all his years he knew: No one driving their mounts to that speed was planning on just a pleasant visit.  
The warning bell rang across the courtyard.  
The guards came with news of an imminent attack, in twenty minutes at most.

Arthur cursed the situation.  
An attack on Camelot and the best his men could do was warn him with twenty minutes to spare.  
The day had been coming to an end. Most of the men under his command had dispersed more than an hour ago. Training had been over and he had worked everyone to the brink. He himself had been about to call merlin to attend him and get this armour off, when the news came to him.  
An attack. On Camelot.  
Which granted was nothing to be happy about but he knew how to deal with those. He had before and he would have to do so in the future. But the messenger they delayed the part of the message where there would be an attack in twenty minutes.  
Twenty minutes. That’s just ridiculous.  
The offenders were almost at the front gate.  
The palace guards had been the only one who have spotted them. None of the scouts had been able to. How could they have been evaded so easily? Even the most sneaky armies. Which yes, existed. Were spotted with at least an hour or two to spare. Giving Arthur enough time to coordinate his men. An actually prepare for battle as you were supposed to do before an attack. Like you were supposed to do before battle.  
Twenty minutes.  
Honestly, Ridiculous.  
Twenty minutes is the time it took for his bathwater to grow cold. Not nearly enough time needed when preparing for an attack.  
An attack on Camelot.  
In twenty minutes.

No Arthur was not freaking out. Shut up Merlin.  
The report spoke of roughly two hundred men on horseback.  
A Horde of men all on horse.  
Surely Camelot could withstand such an attack. They had over come greater challenges in the past.  
Well they did have a bit more time to prepare then hadn’t they? A voice in the back of his head whispered, one sounded suspiciously like merlin.  
No matter.  
His father dealt with things like this all the time when he was still a prince. Arthur would just have to do the same. He would prove to be able to overcome the same obstacles as his father before him.

He send for any of his men still in armour and called guards on active duty to gather at the front gate.  
He send for Merlin to alert Gaius of the situation and to help the older man would Gaius require him. He then ordered a competent enough guard to secure Morgana and her maid.  
Merlin away from the heat of the fight, and Morgana and Gwen accounted for. He could now focus on the attack itself, he guessed he would have less than half of the time remaining since he was warned, meaning ten minutes left.  
He gave word to the outer city to seek refuge in the surrounding forests, some servants had volunteered to warn the villagers. To join their family outside the castle gates.

He himself headed to the main gate, and gave some quick orders on the way.  
They did have protocols after all. With how often they were attacked it would be weird if they didn’t.  
The men would concentrate at the main gate, and the servants would hide out in the kitchens. The dungeons were abandoned and all scouts were called back to the castle. Well not all scouts would make it in time, obviously. Not with only nine minutes to spare. But others would regardless still follow orders. The veterans would stand in front, with the best able-bodied men right behind. The young and entirely undertrained men would mostly remain on the lookout, and be the last and least sturdy line of defence. With the reasoning that they would mostly add to the illusion of the army.  
As he supposed, final touch Arthur placed his archers on the wall near the front gate. as the first line of attack. If they were successful he wouldn’t need to open the gates to drive off these men. If the gates remained closed they would have no chance of harming anyone of Camelot.

His swordfighters formed a line of six people at the front gate, Arthur in the middle and at the front together with the veterans. 

He pondered the motive of the attackers. Just two hundred men. On horseback granted but still. He lookouts hadn’t reported any new attackers, meaning this would be the first wave of attackers, just two hundred men on horseback  
A weird tactic to say the least, was the first thought in Arthur’s head. What strategist would sent their cavalry first. Riding to the city wall no less. . The main positive trait of cavalry being their speed, and the added height for the men riding them. As soon as they arrived they would lose all advantage Still an attack of two hundred men was nothing to sneeze at,  
and considering they planned for this to happen in broad daylight, just all felt off.  
But unconventional or not, a treat was a treat and as crown prince and highest in command of the army it was Arthur’s task to deal with it. With only about around three minutes to spare, Arthur decided against notifying his father. Someone else probably already had. The most important thing was mentally readying the men.  
He hoped a speech made up on the spot would suffice. 

Merlin of course had notified Gaius just like Arthur asked. And then went straight to where the battle would commence.. exactly opposite as Arthur had asked. But well the prince wouldn’t survive half a day without him, so no matter whether he knew or not. Merlin would guard his back from the shadows. And generally make sure Arthur didn’t die.

Merlin has secured himself a spot behind the pillars on Arthur’s right. He wasn’t invisible, but he really was hard to spot. So from here he could fling someone’s weapon out of their hand where needed and. Or else let it glow so hot they would drop it themselves.  
The only thing left to do for him was wait.

He didn’t have to do so very long. The gates hadn’t opened. But suddenly the attackers stood on the other side. He wasn’t sure when that happened. Just as merlin was partly obscured from view. He himself couldn’t quite keep an eye on everything happening. He had heard the shouting of birds and low whispers seemingly carried by the wind. The clouds above him suddenly replaced by much darker ones. And the air felt cold.  
The attackers looked human at least. Though merlin guessed there was more to it than just that.  
The they wore robes with light colours. From his hiding place merlin could see different shades of grey, light pinks and green. They stood united as a group. And most unnerving of all they stood completely still.  
None of the offenders made a move to attack, but then to Merlin’s surprise neither did any of the guards, something was wrong.  
The enemy suddenly sounded clear over the courtyard. A low voice not quite human, but certainly close spoke out over the crowd. They said just one word “bow”  
And Camelot’s people did, they all knelt to the ground. Few tried to resist, some with more success than others. None with as much as Arthur.  
Only he still stood tall.  
He stood defiantly and faced the leader.  
Merlin saw the stress he was under by the bite of his jaw. He was scared and probably in pain merlin guessed. It was unnerving to see him like that, mere moments ago he had seemed so full of energy, and will to face his enemy.

“Bow” the man said yet again. With no more urgency than the first time he did. Merlin felt an heaviness on his back, But stood tall. Arthur swayed, But kept facing the man.

The crowd parted ways and a woman stepped from between the people.  
An apparent fairly young girl, stepped forward. Merlin could feel the magic flowing off her.  
She seemed to young to be wed even. Merlin knew better. She was many years older than the castle.  
“You must be the prince then.” She exclaimed. Her voice rich, and by comparison from the assumed leader, far from human. Her words echoed across the yard, and merlin was sure most of the residents of the castle would have heard her. Maybe she intended that.

She smiled without her eyes. And she took a step closer to Arthur. Then she lowered her voice somewhat and spoke.  
“how else could you hope to compare to destiny’s followers?”

Arthur didn’t say anything. Could he say anything Merlin wondered? He looked pained. His shoulders slumped more at her words. Merlin contemplated abandoning his hiding place an joining the fight, granted there wasn’t much fighting happening. All of Camelot’s men were kneeling to these.. people, creatures? merlin wasn’t sure yet. But the former seemed less likely by the minute.  
He stood still. Calling for his magic and preparing in case any of them planned to harm Arthur. But for now he would have to try and keep calm, they, hadn’t spotted him yet. He could count on the advantage of surprise.  
“Kneel, Boy” the leader said once more. He looked directly at Arthur.  
Arthurs knee hit the floor and he lowered his head o the ground. But he kept his right foot on the ground.  
“N-no.” He said in a voice so small Merlin wondered if it was really Arthur speaking.  
He let his magic flare up. And prepared to strike at the leader. He supposed he’d need a lot of power to amend even to the slightest distraction. These creatures seemed to powerful.  
Before he could however, someone pushed him from behind. Light fingers, placed themselves on his back and gave him a slight nudge forward. And just from that Merlin was off-balance. 

He stumbled forwards. His concentration broken and his magic rapidly flowing away between his fingers. He looked behind to see a small person, female or male he couldn’t tell. But they were the one who had pushed him. Their eyes had no malice in them. They looked like merlin would look while he waited for water to boil. No emotion whatsoever.  
He then faced forward and met Arthurs look.  
He didn’t need to say anything. His expression was enough, his brow furrowed, and soaked with sweat, probably from the strain of resisting the enchantment. The look in his eyes. Almost vulnerable hooded by the shadows from his dishevelled hair. His expression still, and hard like he was hell bend on keeping it that way. Of preventing any emotion seeping through. Arthur feared for his life, for Merlin’s life.  
He didn’t need to say anything, but he did regardless.  
With his voice, not masking any annoyance or concern, and openly expressing his dissatisfaction. “Merlin?!”

♦♦♦]:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::>

Arthur was seriously out of his depth here. The enemy had flown over the gate.  
Flown.  
As birds.  
Then as they descended just before they would touch the ground. The birds lit up. And grew in shape and size.  
Before Arthur had the chance to blink an small army of sorcerers had appeared before him. And the archers had had no time at all to open fire.  
Now it would be too late. Were his men to shoot now, Arthur would endanger the lives of his men by friendly fire.  
He held his hand up, and signed for the archers to hold.

His action could be easily mistaken, by the enemy that is, as a sign for his men on the ground to hold. It was no such thing. The last few months, Arthur had come up with some ideas as to improve their military power. In close quarters such as this he would wordlessly command his troops, while simultaneously not giving away their position.

Well, not that he was sure his archers hadn’t been discovered yet. Arthur was up against an entire army of sorcerers. So he could in no way grow complacent.  
But it was no less an attack on Camelot. The city he would earn, by defending it from any and all treats. He quickly devised new strategies. No man was undefeatable after all.

Before he could formulate any plan however, let alone communicate it with his knights. A man spoke loud. His voice unnatural and powered by magic.  
The told them to bow before him.

And to Arthurs surprise they did. All of his men, bowed to this complete stranger. He would be angered if he wasn’t busy keeping himself upright. There was an enormous weight on his shoulders and head. And if he could do so he would rather sit down.  
But he couldn’t he was in the middle of an fight. He would not show weakness to his men. And he would certainly not bow down to a man who had in no way earned his respect.

It was getting more difficult by the second to keep his resolve however.  
The sorcerer looked him directly in the eyes. He spoke again, this time with the message solely meant for Arthur.  
“Bow”  
A simple word. But Arthur felt his shoulders slump with the force of it, some of his men who had previously tried to resist, fell to the ground.  
A woman or young girl- sorcerer stepped forward. Her words were cryptic and Arthur had the fight of his life just holding himself form the ground. Be couldn’t focus enough to listen to her. He did however fell a trill go down his spine, with every sentence that she spoke. There was something clearly unnatural about her.  
The sorcerer spoke a third time. Arthur felt in that moment the weight of boulders on his back,  
Arthur did his best to face the sorcerer. And spoke the only word he could in that moment. A stammering ‘no’. and he almost was proud of it. Then he remembered crown princes shouldn’t have such difficulties just talking to a commoner. All magical abilities and enchantments aside.  
But Arthur wouldn’t. Bow.

Then out of absolutely nowhere merlin appeared.  
The absolute buffoon, was supposed to be with Gaius. Far away from the fight.  
But well because he was Merlin. He was now here mere strides from the enemy, with not even a weapon, let alone a shield to protect him. 

So as usual Arthur would have to.  
He just wished he had as much confidence in his abilities at the moment as Merlin apparently had.  
The words left him before he noticed.  
“Merlin?!”

It was the last thing he said before he lost consciousness. The group of sorceress. Had spread their hands to the sky above, they spoke in a language unknown to Arthur. His vision blackened out before he hit the ground. 

♦♦♦]:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::>

He regained consciousness for a few seconds moments after. Only to fall back into darkness again.  
It happened a couple of moments. Arthur noticed he was carried by his arms. He noticed some other things. All in different spurts of consciousness.

Merlin was carried beside him

They were on their way to the dungeons.

♦♦♦]:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::>


End file.
